The saddled seabream was first formally described as Sparus melanurus by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae with its type locality given as the Mediterranean.

[4] A study of mitochondrial DNA in 2005 found that the saddled bream was the sister species of Diplodus puntazzo.

The dorsal profile of the head is straight and it has an elongated, sharply pointed snout with a low set horizontal, fleshy lipped mouth.

[2] The saddled seabream is found in the Eastern Atlantic where it ranges from in the Bay of Biscay, Madeira, Cape Verde, Canary Islands and Strait of Gibraltar south to Angola.

[1] It is found at depths down to 30 m (98 ft) over rocky substrates and in bedside Zostera seagrass and seaweed.

It is caught using beach seines, trawls, deep nets and hand lines and it is frequently for sale in fish markets throughout the northern Mediterranean.

However, it is rarely offered for sale in North Africa, Israel or France and it is generally discarded by Portuguese fishers.